Abercrombie & Fitch Defends Sexy Posters Confiscated by Police

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Abercrombie & Fitch said Monday that city police overreacted by confiscating two display photos of scantily clad men and a woman from one of its stores and citing the manager on a misdemeanor obscenity charge.

Police issued the summons Saturday after Abercrombie management did not heed warnings to remove the images from the Lynnhaven Mall store after some customers complained, police spokesman Adam Bernstein said.

One photograph showed three shirtless young men, with one man's upper buttocks showing. The other image was of a woman whose breast was mostly exposed, authorities said.

In 2003, the company halted publication of its A&F Quarterly catalog after seven years. There had been complaints about sexually suggestive photographs, though Abercrombie spokesman Tom Lennox on Monday would not concede that was the reason the catalog's U.S. run ended. "The Quarterly just ran its course, and it was time for a new direction," Lennox said.

In 2004, the retailer agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of promoting whites over minorities and cultivating a virtually all-white image.